THOUSANDS of Turkish Cypriots in favour of accepting the UN peace plan have
marched through occupied Cyprus this week, with even larger demonstrations
planned for the coming week.

On Wednesday, 2,000 Turkish Cypriots in occupied Nicosia braved torrential
rains to urge their leaders to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.

The marches have been organised by the local authorities of Nicosia,
Famagusta and Kyrenia, with full participation from their mayors. Sources
in the municipality of occupied Nicosia said the biggest demonstration yet
was planned for December 26.

Yesterday's Politis reported that Turkish soldiers had been observed
mobilising around major Turkish Cypriot municipalities, but sources in the
north said they had not seen any evidence of army movements.

"I haven't seen any soldiers, but there are always lots of police at the
demonstrations," said Deniz Birinci, occupied Nicosia's 'secretary for
foreign affairs'.

The demonstrators said the increased police presence had not caused any
alarm.

"We haven't had any trouble yet, because the demonstrators are very
peaceful," said Sami Ozuslu, the mayor's secretary for media relations. "If
the police or soldiers do anything against the demonstrators, there is
going to be a very big reaction from the people who want a peace. So, I
don't think they will try anything."

In fact, some welcome the tight security at the demonstrations.

"It's only normal for the police and army to be on alert," Birinci said.
"We need tight security right now, because although we want peace, we don't
want anarchy. We need the army and the police to be there to control
things."

TOURISM to Cyprus dropped more than 10 per cent during 2002, according to
statistics from the Tourism Ministry.

Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis, joined by directors from Cyprus Tourism
Organisation (CTO) offices abroad, presented their theories for the decline
and ways to boost the industry next year.

The "War on Terror" and worldwide economic problems were the obvious
culprits, although the directors also bemoaned the high cost of vacationing
in Cyprus, particularly when compared with the rest of the region. Some
suggested offering better package tour discounts, while others said that
the key was to concentrate on value for money.

"We shall never be as cheap as countries like Turkey and Tunisia, because
the cost of living in Cyprus is much higher," said Dimitris Dimitriou, CTO
director the French office. "So, the best we can do is to offer more
advantages and a higher quality of service."

The only CTO office that reported a significant improvement was from
Ireland, which sent 9 per cent more tourists to Cyprus in 2002 than in
2001.

"There were more flights this year, thanks to EuroCypria and Helios
airlines," said Orestis Rossides, CTO director for the United Kingdom and
Ireland. "And for some reason, the Irish do not seem to be affected by what
happened after September 11."

Tourism from Greece also saw a slight increase, which CTO director George
Ioannides attributed to the violence in Israel, a popular destination for
Greeks in the past.

But tourists from Greece, due to the shared language and culture, have
particularly unique needs, Ioannides said. Since Greek tourists are far
less likely to use package tours to Cyprus, the lack of public
transportation from the airports after 6pm, after the shared taxi services
have stopped for the day, is a major concern.

"This is a big problem for Greek tourists," Ioannides said. "When they go
from Larnaca to Paphos in a private taxi, it can cost up to £90. We
absolutely must address this issue."

As usual, citizens from the United Kingdom accounted for more than 50 per
cent of all tourists, with more than 1 million coming to Cyprus in 2002.

"England is our most important market, so at the moment, we are working to
strengthen the winter business, when the British look for warmer
destinations," Rossides said. "We have received a higher budget for
advertising, and are now offering incentives such as the new golf courses
and walking and cycling packages."

The recent EU accession could be a mixed blessing to the Cyprus tourist
industry, Rolandis said. The free publicity from the accession, and
Cyprus's eventual entry to the Eurozone, would obviously boost tourism from
EU member countries.

However, one CTO director noted that EU accession would discourage tourism
from Russia, which sent 150,000 tourists in 2002 and the Middle East, which
sent 25,000 tourists, because tourists from non-EU countries will be
required to apply for entry visas.

Rolandis and the directors said they were confident that 2002 was an
anomaly in the tourist industry, but depending on external factors, such as
the political situation in the Middle East, and domestic developments, such
as industrial action, they said it is impossible to predict how 2003 would
turn out.

"2002 was a difficult year for everyone, but 2003 will also be difficult,"
Rolandis said.

THE WEATHER outside is frightful, but the water department thinks it's
delightful.

Wednesday's torrential showers brought nearly 4 million cubic meters of
water into the dams, bring the total to 6.6 million cubic meters since
October 1. The dams are now at 40 per cent of total capacity, compared to
only 22 per cent at this time last year, said Vlassis Partasides, senior
water engineer.

"With 108 million cubic meters in the dams, we have enough for all our
water needs and irrigation supply for the year," Partasides said. "This is
very good. We are very happy."

Although Cypriots have grumbled over the low temperatures and precipitation,
officials from the weather department dismiss the complaints, categorising
the conditions as "typical winter weather."

"December had 16 per cent more rain than usual, but the temperatures are
average," explained Kyriacos Theofilou, the head of the meteorological
department.

Theofilou said that the weather department expects the temperature to rise
several degrees during the upcoming week, and does not predict any more
rain for the next few days. Those eager to experience a white Christmas can
still find it in the mountains; however, most of the roads have been
blocked due to the inclement weather and travel advisories.

The weather and police departments have issued warnings to airports,
sailors and drivers, particularly in the snowy mountain areas, where there
are dangers from falling rocks. Despite the warnings, several people have
been injured in car accidents on slippery roads throughout the island in
the last week.

Even those who stay off the roads have had car trouble due to the
downpours. Nicosia resident Andreas Georgalis woke up last week to find his
parked car buried under an adjacent wall that had collapsed from the
rainfall, inflicting £4,000 of damage to the front of the vehicle.

"I was thunderstruck, I couldn't believe it," he said. "I suppose the
lesson is: never park next to an old wall when it's raining. And if you do,
make sure you are fully insured."

A REFUGEE family from Galini have spent three years wading in pools of
water during the winter rains as the Town Planning Department tells them
each year to "be patient" and wait for the repair team to come.

Michalis Constandinou, 50, from Strovolos Refugee Estate 3, has battled
with up to 15 centimetres of water in the bungalow he shares with his wife
and says he is totally exasperated with the situation.

"I have planks of wood on the ceiling that are damp, walls are crumbling,
while the living room and my daughter's bedroom have to be covered with
plastic sheets. I can't fix anything in the house until they fix that roof,
" he said yesterday.

Constantinou told the Town Planning department from the first year when the
problem occurred, but to no avail. "The leakages affect all three houses on
this row. One of them is occupied by an old lady who doesn't know what to
do with it. But each time a repair team comes to the estate, they always
leave us behind. They say we have to wait to the next year."

One official told Constantinou that the funds had run out and he would just
have to be patient. "But how patient can a man be? One, two, three years
and now we are looking at a fourth year in this state," he said.

The water has seeped into the walls and floors of the house, causing the
walls to flake and the plaster to drop. Dampness prevails and little can be
done about it. As Constantinou explains, "I put wooden boards on the
ceiling to try and make the house look a little more presentable but I
can't paint them until they fix the roof. Now, the rain and the leaks have
dampened them and the rest of the house."

The Constantinou family is expecting the rain to continue filling up the
house through the winter. "I try to sweep the roof as much as I can but
there's only so much I can do," he said, adding, "The last time I spoke to
the department they told me to be patient but they wouldn't let me know
when they would come."

Town Planning Department official Takis Constantinou said he was not aware
of this particular case, but acknowledged that "it is definitely a
problem". He explained that the department had in the past hired
contractors that would do a patch-up job of leaking roofs, causing huge
problems when the patchwork came undone.

"Now, we have contractors who do a thorough job of the repairs, making
effective checks on holes, solar panels, faulty pipes, the lot," he said.

When the Cyprus Mail explained that Constantinou's roof could not be a
casualty of the botchy repairs crew because no one had touched the roof for
three years, he replied the department would aim to put the house on the
working list of the next contractor in use after the holidays, sometime in
January.

Meanwhile, Michalis Constantinou wades patiently in the water waiting for
drier times, "I want to paint and fix the house, but I can't do anything
while it's like this."

CYPRIOT officials have completed negotiations in Brussels with the European
Commission regarding a package of measures the government intends to
announce for the economic development of the Turkish Cypriots.

The delegation, made up of Foreign Ministry officials and officers of the
Law Office of the Republic, sought the advice of the EU regarding the
measures on technical matters.

The consultations took place following last week's decision by the
Copenhagen European Council on Cyprus' accession to the EU.

The purpose of the discussions was to ensure that any measures to be
announced will be in line with the EU's acquis communautaire.

In their conclusions, the Copenhagen Council "invites the Commission, in
consultation with the government of Cyprus to consider ways of promoting
economic development of the northern part of Cyprus and bringing it closer
to the Union".

The measures are believed to include plans to ease trade restrictions on
the occupied areas and to make it easier for Turkish Cypriots to work in
the government held areas.

A FAMILY of four Turkish Cypriots was saved from a tragic accident of
carbon dioxide poisoning by their Greek Cypriot neighbour on a cold night
in the Turkish Cypriot quarters of Limassol this week.

The neighbour, Demetris Pitracos, found 45-year-old Hussein Ali semi
conscious near the door of his house at around 11.30pm. Pitracos went
inside the house where he found Ali's wife, Zouhndou, and their two
children, Ozi and Mehmet, 10 and 14, passed out in the bedroom where
charcoal was burning to keep the room warm.

The Greek Cypriot acted immediately by putting the family into his car and
taking them to Limassol General Hospital for treatment. The couple and
their eldest child were later released but little Ozi, who continued to
have breathing problems, was kept in overnight for observation.

Ali had brought the charcoal into the sleeping quarters of the house in an
effort to heat up the place on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. The
large quantity of coal used in the small rooms had the deadly effect of
choking up the house with smoke. The parents tried to get their children
out the house before the poisonous fumes could spread but the lack of
oxygen proved too much for their lungs making them lose consciousness.

The street was deserted, but luckily Pitracos passed by the house when he
heard coughing, finding Ali near the front door and the house full of
smoke. After finding the rest of the family had passed out, he took them
straight away to emergency.

Politis reported yesterday that all the houses in the Turkish Cypriot quarter of Limassol were in a dire condition, with leaks and crumbling walls demanding drastic action.

DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades said yesterday that President Glafcos
Clerides would lose his legitimacy to continue talks on the Cyprus problem
if he decided no to seek re-election.

Anastassiades pointed out that due to the short time left in Clerides' term
- February 28 - the validity of any negotiation could be disputed.

"What he (Clerides) does in the meantime would be judged by the people, who
would either renew his mandate or reject (him) and deny whatever happened
in the meantime," Anastassiades said.

DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos said the talks were not reason enough to
cancel the presidential elections, adding that there were elections every
time there were talks.

"We could accept to extend Clerides' term and say that since he brought
things this far let's let him finish," Papadopoulos said.

He was quick to stress that this could happen, "if the result was
acceptable and satisfactory, but not now that there is the view that there
has been a serious departure from the Greek Cypriot side's positions
without gaining anything".

Papadopoulos suggested DISY was trying to cancel the elections because it
had realised it would be difficult to win them.

KISOS chairman Yiannakis Omirou - who has DISY's backing - said yesterday
his candidacy was a fact, adding that his party was advancing towards the
elections with determination.

Commenting on Anastassiades' remarks, AKEL chief Demetris Christofias,
whose party is backing Papadopoulos, said that in his view the elections
should be held.

"The Republic's constitution and the Republic should continue to operate
and no attempts should be made to downgrade the constitution or the
Republic," Christofias said.

"Thus my answer is that the elections should be held," he added.

Asked whether it would be legitimate for Clerides to continue to negotiate
until the elections, Christofias said that if the UN pushed the procedure
and the other side responded, then the President would have to respond.

"From then on the President himself would judge whether he would continue
to negotiate until February 28," Christofias said.

United Democrats chairman George Vassiliou suggested it would be wrong to
stop negotiating because of the elections.

Speaking after meeting Clerides yesterday, Vassiliou said what was
important was for everyone to understand that the Republic had to
negotiate.

"It is unthinkable to say that we don't negotiate because of the elections;

"This would send the message that the Greek Cypriot side is not interested
in a solution, something that we cause huge damage to our case and the
country," Vassiliou said.

A 23-YEAR-old Cypriot student has been arrested in Switzerland on suspicion
of murdering his visiting 57-year-old father, police said yesterday.

Cypriot police yesterday named the suspect as Ioannis Ioannou, who was
arrested by Zurich police on Wednesday on suspicion of stabbing to death
his father, Savvas Ioannou from Nicosia.

According to reports, Ioannou had been visiting his son who was studying in
Zurich. On Thursday, the island's Interpol branch was contacted by its
Swiss counterpart with information that the 23-year-old and his father, a
Cyprus Tourism Organisation employee, had had an argument at the boy's
apartment, which led to the son allegedly stabbing his father to death. The
reasons behind the argument and subsequent murder remained unclear, police
said. The youth was placed under arrest and was currently being questioned
by Swiss authorities, Cyprus police were told.

Local police had no more information on the matter, saying their Swiss
counterparts were investigating the case.

POTATO farmers are planning to block off major roads today, if the
government fails to pay them £5.6 million in compensation for financial
losses incurred this year.

At their last meeting, the Cabinet failed to agree what compensation would
be given to potato farmers for their spoiled harvest, postponing the
decision until they next convened on January 8.

But the potato farmers are not willing to waiting that long, warning
yesterday that if they failed to receive a pledge that they would get the
£5.6 million by Christmas, they would take action today.

"The technocrats are not able to sort out the problem between themselves
and keep disagreeing about how much money we should be given," said George
Katcharis, vice president of the farmers co-ordination committee. "The end
result is we are forced to suffer."

"£5.6 million is the amount we lost in costs due to a poor harvest. It's
not as if we are taking any extra money home," Katcharis said.

"They probably don't want to give us anything. That's what we think. And
due to EU accession the farming industry has been destroyed and many
farmers are leaving the business. We even have the full support of the
House of Representatives in this," he said. "The January 8 date for a
Cabinet decision does not satisfy us. We want the money before Christmas."

Potato farmers from around the island plan to meet near Larnaca at 9am
today in order to discuss what measures need to be taken from here to have
their demands met. By yesterday afternoon they had already started to
gather.

Although CyBC reported an expected 200-tractor turnout yesterday, just
under four dozen potato farmers finally gathered on the Ormidia-Xylofagou
road - within the Sovereign Base Areas - ahead of today's scheduled
meeting.

"Their meeting point is the ex-ammo depot," an SBA policeman told the
Cyprus Mail. "Around 45 tractors had gathered there by 3.30pm, but I don't
think any more will assemble tonight due to the weather."

The farmers warn they will step up measures if the government does not meet
their demands.

"We will decide what to do at Saturday's meeting and what course to take
from here. Some have suggested we march to the Presidential Palace, others
have said to close off the airport and others to shut off the Rizoelia
roundabout. But, whatever we decide, it will be bigger than Rizoelia,"
Katcharis said.

In March, 240 farmers held strikes at the Rizoelia roundabout in Larnaca.
The strikes lasted nearly five days and caused havoc on the Nicosia-Larnaca
highway. Farmers then were demanding diesel price subsidies, a settlement
of farmers' debts, and an end to social insurance payments for seasonal
foreign workers.

Police will be on hand today to divert traffic onto alternative roads if
farmers block the motorway.